One Hundred Fifty Thousand

Yesterday, 150,000 people, died.

Every day, worldwide, about 150,000 people die.

Some days are busier than others.

One day in 2004, 230,000 people died in just one relatively small area around the Indian Ocean. 

The result of an earthquake and tsunami.

One day in 1945, 70,000 people died in just one city—in just five seconds.

Hiroshima.

We all know we’re going to die.

At least intellectually we know it.

We know of all the historical figures who have died.

We don’t know of anyone alive who’s older than 110 or so.

We know of all the deaths we read about or hear about every day.

We’ve even seen friends and relatives die.

We feel their absence.

Yet, at some level our minds play down the fact that we’re going to die too—relatively soon.

As we enter these last few days of our liturgical year, our Gospel speaks of the end times.

The end of this world.

Some unknown day—some far distant day—this world will end.

Some unknown day—a not so distant day—our time in this world will end.

There’s a standard cartoon image.

Long lines of people, queued-up in the clouds, waiting to see St Peter.

He’s sitting there at the Pearly Gates with his quill and his ledger book

Clearly, that’s no way to process 150,000 arrivals per day.

And clearly, we don’t really know the full details of the time-of-death process.

But we do know that after death we’ll move on to our new life.

And it’s there that we’ll await the final end of time and the transformation of this world.

Our Gospel’s focus on the end times draws us to consider our own end time.

Even with our incomplete knowledge, we have a lot of material for contemplation.

Pondering our own death could be a fairly depressing exercise.

If we looked upon death as a final end.

But we look beyond death to that glorious life to come.

With that glorious goal in view:

Are we making the best of this “present” we’ve been given?

How prepared are we for our end time?

There’s always room for improvement.

What course corrections might we make now?

Tuesday, 34th Week in Ordinary Time

Lk 21:5-11           Read this Scripture @usccb.org